Potential Franklin All-Stars

The 84th MLB All-Star game weekend will kick off July 12 in Queens, NY, as the Mets play host at Citi Field. Many Franklin Pros have started the season off hot and are receiving plenty of votes from their fans to be starters. As the weekend nears, the position races for All-Star starters are coming down to the wire.

In the American League shortstop race, J.J. Hardy (Orioles) and Jhonny Peralta (Tigers) are second and third in the voting, respectively. Hardy is just 10,000 votes behind the leader and hopes his 12 homeruns and .460 slugging percentage (second among AL shortstops) will push him into the starting role in the Midsummer Classic.

Meanwhile, the race for starting DH in the AL is full of Franklin Pros, including David Ortiz, Lance Berkman and Mark Trumbo. Ortiz is currently in first place, followed by Berkman in second and Trumbo in fourth. Ortiz has returned from an Achilles’ tendon injury in classic Big Papi fashion - with a bang. He has collected 10 homeruns, 39 RBIs and 50 hits in 40 games this season, posting a batting line of .333/.402/.627.

Surprisingly, in his seven All-Star game appearances Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) has never been selected as a starter. But this year the game’s best hitter is leading all players, with more than 1.5 million votes. After winning the Triple Crown last year, Cabrera hasn’t skipped a beat, posting a batting line of .370/.445/.665 with 17 homeruns, 65 RBIs and 85 hits. Cabrera is fighting to defend his Triple Crown title and currently leads the MLB in batting average and RBIs, and is tied for second place in home runs.

In the National League, Braves outfielder Justin Upton is the second leading vote getter, with nearly 1.2 million votes, as he looks to attend his third All-Star game. Upton started the season on a homerun tear and currently has 14 long bombs on the year, as well as 29 RBIs and a .257 batting average.

The race for starting National League first basemen includes Franklin Pros Joey Votto (Reds) and Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks) currently in first and third place, respectively. Votto has more than one million votes currently and is looking to be named to his fourth consecutive All-Star game. The 25-year-old Goldschmidt has other ideas, however.

The Diamondbacks young up-and-comer has strung together a solid first half in his third MLB season. Goldschmidt has recorded a .335/.417/.599 batting line, collected 49 RBIs and blasted 13 homeruns scattered throughout 71 hits in 57 games.

Don’t forget to continue voting for your favorite Franklin Pros to start in this year’s MLB All-Star Game and make sure to watch all of the weekend’s festivities July 12 to 16. Voting ends July 4!